Refrigerator cabinet drawer structure



Aug 14, 1956 A. F. BECKER RETRIGERATOR CABINET DRAWER STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 18, 1953 INVENTOR. ILO/S F. BECKER,

ug- 14, 1956 A. F. BECKER 2,758,903

REFRIGERATOR CABINET DRAWER STRUCTURE:

Filed May 18, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .50 6 s 49 w N i V27 I I IE5/. l l

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United States REFRIGERATOR CABINET DRAWER STRUCTURE Alois F. Becker, Great Lakes, lll., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Amana Refrigeration, Inc., Amana, owa, a corporation of Iowa Application May 18, 1953, Serial No. 355,583 Claims. (Ci. 312-3'20) This invention relates generally to containers of the type commonly used in refrigerator cabinets and refers more particularly to an improved drawer structure hav ing provision for slidably engaging suitable guide rails located within the cabinet.

It is an object of this invention to provide an attractive container or drawer structure which, although possessing exceptional stability, is light in weight and is composed of a relatively few simple parts capable of being inexpensively manufactured and assembled.

It is another object of this invention to provide a container or drawer structure which is open at the top and which has front, rear, bottom and side walls formed of lengths of wire bent to the required shape. The lengths of wire are welded or otherwise permanently secured together to provide a rigid and light weight structure.

Itis still another object of this invention to improve the appearance of the container or drawer structure by securing a decorative panel sheet to the lengths of wire forming the front wall of the structure.

lt is a further object of this invention to facilitate handling of the container or drawer structure by providing a hand hole in the decorative front panel sheet and by providing a hand gripping member on the front wall of the structure above the hand hole.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide the container or drawer structure with a top border frame having supporting members respectively projecting laterally outwardly from opposite sides of the frame in a manner to slidably engage suitable guides in the cabinet of a refrigerator.

The foregoing as well as other objects will be made more apparent as this description proceeds, especially when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a fragmentary front elevational view of a refrigerator cabinet having the door removed;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view through the structure shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of one of the drawers shown in Figure l;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the drawer shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a front elevational View of the drawer shown in Figure 3 and having the front panel removed;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view of a part of the drawer shown in Figure 3;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8 8 of Figure 3; and

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 4.

The container or drawer structure forming the subject matter of this invention is especially adapted for use in refrigerator cabinets. In Figure 1 of the drawings, two drawers constructed in accordance with the present invention are shown as slidably supported in side by side relationship in the space provided at the bottom of a refrigerator cabinet, although it will be apparent as this description proceeds that the invention is not limited to this particular installation.

In Figures l and 2 of the drawings the numeral 10 designates the lower part of a refrigerator cabinet having a food storage compartment 11 and having a machinery compartment 12 below the bottom wall of the compartment 11. In the present instance a pair of drawers 13 are supported in side by side relationship in the bottom portion of the compartment 11 for sliding movement into and out of the compartment 11 through the access opening provided at the front of the cabinet. For slidably supporting the drawers, guide rails 14 are respectively secured to the inner side walls of the compartment 11, and additional guide rails 15 are secured to a division bar 16 extending upwardly from the bottom wall of the compartment 11 between adjacent side walls of the drawers. The guide rails extend horizontally from the front of the cabinet to the back of the latter and also support an article supporting shelf 17 which forms a closure for the open tops of the drawers 13. As shown particularly in Figure 2 of the drawings, the bottom wall of the compartment 11 is inclined upwardly at the rear of the cabinet to provide clearance for the motor-compressor unit 13 in the machinery compartment 12, and the rear portions of the bottom walls of the drawers 13 are correspondingly inclined to accommodate the inclined portion of the bottom wall of the compartment 11.

The two drawers 13 are identical in construction and a description of one will suice for both. Briefly, each drawer 13 is open at the top and comprises front, rear, side and bottom walls 19, 20, 21 and 22 respectively. The aforesaid walls are formed of lengths of wire bent to the required conguration and welded or otherwise permanently secured together at the appropriate points to provide a rigid integral structure. A border frame 23 of wire surrounds the open top of the drawer and the top portions of the front, rear and side walls are welded or otherwise secured to the undersides of the adjacent bars of the border frame 23 to further increase the rigidity of the structure.

As shown in Figure 5 of the drawings, the front wall 19 has vertically spaced horizontally extending wire sections 24 and 25 located adjacent the top of the front wall. The section 24 is spaced below the front bar of the border frame 23 and the opposite ends of the section 24 are bent upwardly to form loops 26 which are welded to the underside of the border frame 23. The extremities of the loops 26 are extended downwardly to provide vertical wires or legs 27 having the lower ends 28 projecting rearwardly to form parts of the bottom wall 22 of the drawer. The rear ends of the wires 28 are extended upwardly to provide vertical wires or legs 29 which form parts of the rear wall of the drawer.

The opposite ends of the horizontal section are extended downwardly to provide vertical wires or legs 3i) spaced laterally inwardly from the Vertical wires 27 and having the lower ends 31 projecting rearwardly to form additional parts of the bottom wall 22 of the drawer. The rear ends of the wires 31 are extended upwardly along the rear wall 20 to provide wires or legs 32 which are connected to the upper ends of the wires 29 by loops welded to the underside of the rear bar of the border frame 23. These loops lie directly to the rear of loops 26 as seen in Figure 5.

The space between the vertical wires 32 at the rear of the drawer is reduced in area by pairs of vertically extending wires 33 and 34 spaced laterally from one another and from the vertical wires 32. The upper ends of the wires of each pair are integrally connected by loops 35 which are also welded to the underside of the rear bar of the border frame 23. The lower ends of the wires 33 and 34 are bent to extend along the bottom wall 22 of the drawer between the wires 31 and the front ends of the bentY portions are integrally connected by loops 36, as shown in Figure 5 of the drawings.- Referring now to Figure 4 of the drawings, it will be noted that the rear end portions of the wires 28,` 31 and 36 are inclined upwardly to conform to the inclined part of the bottom wall of the storage compartment 11 in the refrigerator cabinet.

The opposite side walls 21 of the drawer are formed by a plurality of closed wire loops 37 bent to a substantially U-shaped configuration. The wires 38 forming the base portions of the U-shaped loops 37 extend across the tops of the wires 28, 31 and 36 to coact with the latter in forming the bottom wall 22 of the drawer. The upper ends of the leg portions of the U-shaped loops V37 are welded to the border frame 23. It will be understood that the wires forming the walls of the drawer may be welded together at any one or all of the points of crossing in order to provide rigid structure. If desired, rigidity of the structure may be further assured by providing a belt frame 27 of wire around the drawer between the top and bottom of the drawer. The frame 27' is preferably welded to the vertical wires forming the front, side and rear walls of the drawer.

The front wall 19 of the drawer is completely covered by a sheet metal panel 39 embossed to provide vertically spaced horizontal ribs 40 which not only strengthen the panel but, in addition, impart a decorative appearance to the front of the drawer. The top of the panel 39 is bent to provide a rearwardly extending flange 41 which overlies the front bar of the border frame 23 and the opposite sides of the panel 39 project laterally outwardly beyond the side Walls 22 of the drawer to completely conceal the wire structure of the drawer when the latter is in its closed position, as shown in Figure l of the drawings. Upon reference to Figure 8 of the drawings, it willv be noted that the panel 39 seats against the front sides of the vertical wires 27 and 30, and that the side edges of the panel are turned rearwardly to provide attaching flanges 4,2.

As shown in Figures 5 and 8 of the drawings, tabs or brackets 43 are welded to the rear sides of the wires 27 and 30 at vertically spaced points and project laterally outwardly beyond opposite sides of the front wall 19 of the drawer. The extremities of the brackets 43 are turned rearwardly to provide iianges 44 which are secured to the anges 42 by fasteners 45.

The panel 39 is formed with a hand hole 45 adjacent the top thereof in a position to register with the space provided between the horizontally extending wire sections 24 and 25 of the front wall 19 of the drawer. The bottom edge and the opposite side edges of the panel 39 are turned rearwardly to provide finishing flanges 46. These anges project through the space between the wires 24 and 25, and` impart a iinished appearance to the structure. As shown in Figure 7 of the drawings, the bottom ilange 46 forms a continuation of one of the ribs 4t! and overlies or hooks. over the wire section 25.

Reference has been made above to the fact that the panel 39 has a bearing. engagement with the front sides of the wires forming the front wall- I9 of the drawer and also to the fact that the top of the panel is bent rearwardly over the front bar of the border frame 23. Inthis connection it will be noted from Figure 7 that the wire forming the border frame 23 is of greater diameter than the wire used in forming the front wall 19 of the drawer and in order to obtain the results noted above the wires forming the front wall 19 are set forwardly so that the front sides of these wires are in a common vertical plane with4 the front side of the border frame 23. The loops 26, however, are bentV rearwardly slightly as shown in Figure 7 in order to permit` Welding the 4 tops of the loopsto the undersides of the front bar of the border frame 23.

ln order to further improve the appearance of the drawer and at the same time facilitate manipulation of the drawer, a hand grip 47 is provided. The hand grip is preferably formed of a plastic material and is U-shaped in cross section. As shown in Figure 7, the base 48 of the hand grip is curved around the underside of the section 24 at the top of the hand hole 4S, and also around the edge of the panel 39 dening the top of the hand hole. The rear leg portion 49 of the Uishaped grip extends upwardly along the rear side of the front wall 19 and engages the underside of the flange 41 rearwardly of the front bar of the border frame '23. The front leg portion Sti extends upwardly along the front side of the panel 39 and is turned rearwardly to form a flange 51 which overlies the iiange 41 on the panel 39. The material from which the hand grip 47 is formed is sufficiently resilient to enable spreading the leg portions apart the distance required to effect installation.

It has been stated above that the drawers are slidably supported within the storage compartment 11 on the guide rails 14 and 15. In order to accomplish the above, a pair of strips or brackets 53 (Figure 9) are welded to the opposite side bars of the border frame and these strips extend for substantially the full length of the side bars. The inner edge portions of the strips are turned downwardly to provide anges 54 which overlie the inner surfaces of the side bars of the border frame and the outer edge portions extend laterally beyond these side bars for engagement with the adjacent guide rails. Suitable stops 55 may be formed on the strips 5.3 i`n positions to coact with stops on the guide rails to limit forward sliding movement of the drawers.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A container for use in refrigerator cabinets, cornprising a front wall composed of lengths of wire having vertically extending sections and having vertically spaced horizontally extending sections adjacent 'the top of the front wall, a panel of sheet material positioned at the front side of said wall and having a hand hole registering with the space between the horizontally extending sections, means for attaching the panel Vto said front wall, comprising tabs projecting laterally outwardly from opposite sides of the front wall and having the inner ends respectively secured to vertical wire sections adjacent the opposite sides of the front wall, means at the opposite side edges of the panel secured to said tabs and a hand gripping member having a part looped around the under side of the top horizontal section at the hand hole and having parts positioned respectively on opposite sides of the portion of the front wall extending above the hand hole.

2. A container for use in refrgeratorvcabine'ts, Vcemprising front, rear, bottom and side walls composed of lengths of wire, the front wall having laterally spaced vertically extending sections of'wii and having vertically spaced horizontally extending wire sections adjacent the top of the front wall, a panel of sheet material secured to the front wall at the front side thereof and being of suicient size to conceal the lengths of wire forming the front wall, said panel having a hand hole registering with the space between. the horizontally extending wirel sections, tabs projecting laterallyl outwardly from' opposite sides of the front wall and having the inner ends respectively secured to the vertical wire sections of the front wall adjacent the opposite sidesy of said front wall., and means at opposite side edges of the panel secured to said tabs. j v

3. An open topped container of the class described comprising bottom,I front, rear and side wallscomposed of lengths of wire and includingga top; border wire extending across the tops of sa-id front, rear and side walls, a second wire; having a. first horizontal portion spaced below the front portion of said border wire and upwardly extending front loops at the ends thereof connected to the front portion of said border Wire, vertical laterally outer front legs extending downwardly to the bottom of said container from the outer ends of said loops, said second wire including portions extendling rearwardly from the bottoms of said front legs to the rear of said container and thence upwardly to form vertically extending outer rear legs at the rear of the container, laterally inwardly extending rear loops at the tops of said outer rear legs secured to the rear portion of said top border wire, laterally inner rear legs extending vertically downwardly from the laterally inner ends of said rear loops to the bottom of the container and thence forwardly to the front thereof and thence upwardly to form laterally inner vertical front legs spaced laterally inwardly from said outer front legs, a second horizontal portion connecting the top ends of said laterally inner front legs and spaced beneath the said first horizontal portion thereof, panel supporting tabs extending from said laterally inner front legs to the adjacent laterally outer front legs and secured to said legs to provide support for said laterally inner front legs, and a front panel secured to said tabs.

4. A container as dened in claim 3 in which said tabs extend laterally outwardly beyond the laterally outer front legs, and in which said panel is secured to the portion of said tabs laterally outwardly beyond said laterally outer front legs.

5. A container as dened in claim 3, said panel having a hand hole registering with the space between horizontal portions of said second wire at the front of said container, and a hand gripping member formed of resilient material of substantial U-shape having a base extending around the bottom edge of said hand hole, a front portion overlying the front of the panel above the hand hole, a support ange extending rearwardly from the top edge of said front portion and overlying the top front edge of said container, and a rear portion overlying the rear of the panel above the hand hole.

References Cited in the lle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 873,085 Repetto Dec. 10, 1907 1,041,751 DeLong Oct. 22, 1912 1,570,009 Sanders lan. 19, 1926 1,774,313 Braeutgam Aug. 26, 1930 2,103,885 Whalen Dec. 28, 1937 2,179,981 Mooter Nov. 14, 1939 

